VIETNAMESE CONFECTIONERY MARKET ANALYSIS AND ENTRY PLAN, Case: Candyking Finland Oy LAHTI UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Degree programme in International Business Thesis Spring 2013 Nguyen, Duc Quang Ha, Thi Thu Phuong Lahti University of Applied Sciences Degree Programme in International Business NGUYEN, DUC QUANG: Vietnamese Confectionery Market Analysis and Entry Plan, HA, THI THU PHUONG: Case: Candyking Finland Oy Bachelor‟s Thesis of Degree Programme in International Business, 92 pages, 9 pages of appendices Spring 2013 ABSTRACT The Vietnamese confectionery market has been literally known as a sweet and bitter chocolate bar in the eyes of many investors. In recent years, there is a dramatic increase in demand from this potential market as well as its influencing challenges. The international players are unfortunately not fully exposed to the internal market situation and subject to failure at first hand. This thesis is, therefore, to assist Candyking Group- a confectionery market leader in Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and Baltic region- to decide whether Vietnam is a good choice for internationalization. In order to achieve this goal, a full external analysis of Vietnam‟s confectionery market; the Pick & Mix concept; Candyking‟s products; an entry plan are wholly studied. The thesis uses deductive approach based on qualitative method. In the theoretical part, data is obtained from a variety of sources, mainly published texts while unpublished sources provided by Candyking Finland Oy, the internet, other legal documents and the author‟s own observations are utilised in the empirical section. Finally, it is concluded that Vietnam is a highly potential market for Candyking and it is of absolute advantage for the company to become the pioneer with its Pick & Mix concept in this market. There are inevitably stumbling blocks that the company should take into consideration once the internationalization decision is made. Though obviously further research is required to get the plan off the ground and set in motion, the authors positively recommend Candyking to penetrate into the Vietnamese market. Keywords: Candyking, Pick and Mix, export, Big C, Vietnam CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 4 1.1 Background 4 1.2 Research objectives and questions 4 1.3 Research methodology 5 1.4 Scope and limitations 6 1.5 Thesis structure 8 2 DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY 10 2.1 Strategic Planning 10 2.2 International market entry strategies 12 2.2.1 Market entry concept 12 2.2.2 Foreign market entry modes 12 2.2.3 International market entry analysis 13 2.2.4 Selecting mode of international market entry 15 2.3 Distribution channel analysis 17 2.3.1 Channel alternatives 17 2.3.2 Channel selection 20 3 PICK & MIX CONCEPT AND CANDYKING LTD 24 3.1 Pick & Mix Concept 24 3.2 Candyking Ltd 25 3.2.1 Candyking Ltd - Company analysis 25 3.2.2 Candyking‟s products 29 4 VIETNAMESE MARKET ANALYSIS 30 4.1 Vietnam PESTEL analysis 30 4.1.1 Country overview 30 4.1.2 Political factors 31 4.1.3 Economic factors 31 4.1.4 Socio-cultural factors 36 4.1.5 Legal environment factors 37 4.2 Vietnamese confectionery market 39 4.2.1 Market overview 39 4.2.2 Competition 49 5 ENTRY PLAN 61 5.1 Internationalizaion strategy 61 5.2 Distribution design 64 5.3 Entry mode selection 65 5.4 Importer selection 66 5.5 Distributor selection 66 5.6 Retailer selection 67 5.7 Customer segmentation 74 5.8 Pricing strategy 76 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 79 7 SUMMARY 82 REFERENCES 83 APPENDICES 93 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. Research methodology 5 FIGURE 2. Induction and deduction (Ghauri et al. 1995, 32) 5 FIGURE 3. Thesis structure 8 FIGURE 4. Thesis framework 9 FIGURE 5. Corporate strategic planning (Christopher and Peck 2003, 64) 11 FIGURE 6. Foreign market entry decision framework (Gannon 1993, 48) 13 FIGURE 7. Market segment and competitive positioning (Ayal and Zif 1979, 84- 94) 14 FIGURE 8. Foreign market entry, risk resources and control (Argawal and Ramaswani 1992, 17) 16 FIGURE 9. Alternative distribution channels (Rushton et al. 2010, 51) 18 FIGURE 10. Channel structure (Rushton et al. 2010, 58) 23 FIGURE 11. Advantages and disadvantages of Pick & Mix concept 24 FIGURE 12. Candyking's structure (modified from Candyking 2012) 27 FIGURE 13. Candyking's products (modified from Candyking 2012) 29 FIGURE 14. Vietnam's international trade 2012 (TLS Vietnam Research 2012) 34 FIGURE 15. Sale of sugar confectionery 2010-2016 (Business monitor 2012) 41 FIGURE 16. Vietnam's confectionery market share 2012 (Phu Hung Securities Report 2012) 43 FIGURE 17. Porter's Five Forces (Porter 1979) 50 FIGURE 18. Strategy Canvas of Vietnamese market 58 FIGURE 19. Distribution formats (Riley 2012) 64 FIGURE 20. Distribution channels chosen 65 FIGURE 21. Retail market structure (Adapted from RNCOS 2012) 68 FIGURE 22. Big C logo 69 FIGURE 23. Some supermarkets' logos 69 FIGURE 24. Some convenience stores' logos 70 FIGURE 25. Private label awareness (Nielsen Grocery Report 2011) 73 FIGURE 26. Candyking positioning strategy 77 2 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. Market strategy, complexity and foreign market entry (Bradley 2002, 250) 15 TABLE 2.Candyking's history timeline ( modified from Candyking 2012) 26 TABLE 3. Vietnam's statistics 2011 (CIA 2012) 32 TABLE 4. Vietnam's main imports (Canadian Trade Commission 2012) 33 TABLE 5. Vietnam's main exports (Canadian Trade Commission 2012) 34 TABLE 6. The most attractive emerging markets 2010 (ATKearney 2012) 35 TABLE 7. Vietnam's social figures (CIA 2012) 36 TABLE 8. Vietnam's business environment SWOT analysis (Business monitor 2011) 38 TABLE 9. Sugar confectionery consumption by category 2010-2012 (Business monitor international 2012) 40 TABLE 10. Forecast of value growth percentage by category 2010-2015 (Business monitor 2012) 41 TABLE 11. Domestic and Foreign Producers' market share 2009-2011 (Business monitor 2012) 44 TABLE 12. Confectionery distribution formats 2010 (Euro monitor 2010) 45 TABLE 13. SWOT analysis of Candyking products in Vietnam 47 TABLE 14. Porter's Five Forces of Vietnamese confectionery market 51 TABLE 15. Direct and indirect competitors of Candyking 53 TABLE 16. Perfetti Van Melle SWOT analysis 54 TABLE 17. Kinh Do SWOT analysis 56 TABLE 18. Candyking's objectives SMART analysis 59 TABLE 19. Porter's generic strategies (Porter 1980) 61 TABLE 20. Porter's generic strategies core success 62 TABLE 21. Retailer decision matrix 71 TABLE 22. Target customers 75 TABLE 23. The competitors' pricing (Hai Ha, Bibica, Perfetti Van Melle 2012) 77 TABLE 24. Core success factors and target customers 79 TABLE 25. Chosen channels and recommendation for further research 80 3 GLOSSARY APEC Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation ASEAN Association of Southeast Asia Nations B2B Business to Business BTA Bilateral Trade Agreement CAGR Compounded Annual Growth Rate CDC Central Distribution Centre CEE Central and Eastern Europe CEPT Common Effective Preferential Tariff CIA Central Intelligence Agency CKI Candyking International FDI Foreign Direct Investment MOH Ministry of Health MOST Ministry of Science and Technology NDC National Distribution Centre RDC Regional Distribution Centre VAT Value Added Tax WTO World Trade Organization 4 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background People around Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and UK have got themselves indulged in the tasteful assortment of candies under the name Candy King for over two decades. The concept Pick & Mix- the idea of letting the customers select and put together their own favourite candies in one package - has proven itself a breathtaking success story. Over the last 25 years since birth, the company has established a firm position as a pioneer and market leader in all of its playgrounds. It is currently enjoying a sale of 170 million euro with a network reaching as far as 9500 stores (Candyking 2012). Yet the company is working relentlessly in its effort to branch out to other potential markets (Westerberg 2012). Mr Becker (Vietnamnews 2008) - The General Director of Association of German Confectionery Producers- in his press release for a sweets fair trade in Dusseldorf, Germany has said that Vietnam‟s economy is among the fastest growing in the world. In today‟s tremendous swirl of internationalization, this positive sign is building a platform for the country‟s confectionery industry to take off. Moreover, the Pick & Mix concept is a brand new idea and is expected to succeed in this new target market. In the author‟s opinion, given all the above mentioned factors, it is logical for Candyking to give a kick off to the promising market of Vietnam. 1.2 Research objectives and questions Research objectives: Is Vietnam a potential market for Candyking’s Pick & Mix products? How can the company enter that market successfully? The thesis aims at providing all the needed information concerning the internal and external market situation to analyse whether it is beneficial to invest in Vietnam. If yes, what will be the most appropriate distribution method the company can use? In order to achieve these objectives, the research questions are formed as follows: 5 How is the confectionery market in Vietnam? How are the competitors doing in the market? What are the target customers? What is the entry plan used? What is the suitable pricing strategy? 1.3 Research methodology An overview of this study‟s research methodology is presented in the figure below: Research Approach Deductive Research Methods Qualitative method Primary sources: Interviews and observations Collection Methods Secondary sources: Books, journals, reports, articles FIGURE 1. Research methodology Ghauri et al. (1995, 32) represented the differences between inductive and deductive methods, which are illustrated in the following figure: Deduction • Facts acquired Explanation and through • Law and predictions Theories observations Induction FIGURE 2. Induction and deduction (Ghauri et al. 1995, 32) 6 According to Burney (2008), induction reasoning favours specific observations leading to theories and broader generalizations, whereas deduction reasoning works the other way around, from theories narrowing down to particular explanations.